Fun in the Pond
by Blue Helium-Filled Balloon
Summary: It's a hot day in the Hoenn Region, and May, Max and Ash decide to go swimming. Advanceshipping
1. Let's Go Swimming

**To anyone who wondered about Brock's disappearance, it's just my own version of Pokémon. After Brock and Misty left, Brock's reappearance sort of ruined the episode's impact on the series. So he'll just be gone in any of Ash's adventures after Johto, but he'll still appear in future stories.**

It was a regular day in the Hoenn Region and Ash, with his Pikachu and friends, May and Max, traveling with him to his next gym battle and May's next contest. At least that's what they would be doing if it wasn't so hot.

"Can we take a break guys?" May quickly sat in the grass to rest.

"But May, we just took a break three minutes ago!" Ash was starting to get irritated. "If we continue like this, we'll be late for your contest and my gym battle!"

"But you have plenty of time to battle and there are plenty of contests for me to compete in anyway. Can't we just take the day to relax?" May asked with a puppy dog face.

Ash just glared at her.

"Trying to make Ash think your cute May?" Max teased.

"MAX!" May screamed while blushing slightly, while Ash was confused at Max's comment.

Max then said, "But seriously Ash, can we rest for today? It's really hot."

Ash took the time to analyze the weather. It really was a hot day. The temperature was probably around 85-90 degrees. Pikachu even showed signs of being hot. So he gave in to May and Max's pleas and decided that they'd stop traveling for today.

"Okay then, so what do you two want to do?" Ash asked them.

May came up with a brilliant idea. "How 'bout we go swimming? Max, didn't we pass a pond not too long ago?"

Max checked his PokéNav, and confirmed that they did pass a pond. It was maybe around two minutes away from them. May was glad to hear this.

"How about we go swimming today?" May suggested. Max was ecstatic with the idea and Pikachu too.

Ash was fine with this. "Cool idea May! Okay, let's go swimming!"

May, Max and Pikachu all cheered with happiness.

Once they arrived, all three of them took the time to appreciate the scenery. The water was clear and sparkling from the sun and the trees and grass were swaying from a small breeze.

"Wow! What a perfect spot to relax!" May said enthusiastically. "I'll go change into my swimming suit over there." She pointed at a bush nearby. "No peeking, ok Ash?"

Ash's face turned red from that statement while Max laughed at his reaction.

"Exactly what do you think of me as, May?" Ash responded, slightly insulted by that statement.

Max intervened, "Calm down Ash, she's only teasing you. We all know you're not like that."

With that, Ash calmed down. After that awkward moment ended, Max came up with an idea to make things even more awkward, and funny, between Ash and his sister, May. He was struggling to hold in his giggles, imagining how things would turn out. Max then commenced his operation.

"Hey Ash…"

"What's up Max?"

"Do you know that my sister… _likes_ you?"

"Of course I know she likes me." Ash said very casually.

Max was shocked by his calm response. But before he can react to this, Ash continued.

"If she didn't like me, then we wouldn't be friends." Pikachu nodded in agreement.

Max fell over. "May's right, he really doesn't get it."

Max stood up and asked Ash another question. "Do you like May?"

"Yes. If I didn't we wouldn't be friends, remember?" Ash responded as if it were obvious.

"No Ash, I mean do you 'like-like' May?"

"Didn't I just answer that, and why did you say like two times?" Ash was genuinely confused.

"I give up." Max remained silent as they waited for May.

May then returned, wearing a red, two-piece bikini. "Okay, I'm done! Say, how do I look?" She posed in front of both boys, but mostly towards Ash.

Max answered his sister how any other little brother would. "You look by keeping your eyes open."

"Pfft, I wasn't talking to you." May turned back to Ash, "What do you think Ash?"

Ash looked towards Pikachu, obviously not knowing what to say. "I think you look nice May."

"Thanks Ash…" May had a hint of disappointment.

"Well, I'm going to go change now too." Ash then ran towards the area May formally was.

As they waited for Ash, Max decided to try his plan on his own sister.

"Hey May, do you like Ash?"

"Of course I do, he's my friend."

Max knew she wasn't as dense as Ash, so he continued. "No May, I mean do you 'like-like' Ash?"

Mays cheeks turned pink from Max's question. She quickly turned her back on him. "Um, a… I don't know. He seems like a nice guy but…"

"Because he told me that he likes you." Max hoped that statement would give different results.

May's eyes opened wide when he said that, and her face turned red as a tamato berry. But May quickly shrugged off Max's statement, thinking that he was probably playing a joke on her, and he was...

Ash returned, wearing green swimming trunks. Pikachu followed wearing sunglasses.

"Okay Max, your turn."

Max went to go change, leaving Ash and May alone. Pikachu was there too.

**Chapter 1's done. Don't know how long Chapter 2 will take. Probably sometime this week or tomorrow. Please, constructive criticism only.**


	2. Playing Safe or Not

**Sorry for the VERY VERY VERY VERY LONG wait for the next chapter. Had things to do, like vacationing, and school, and applying for college, and life.**

Ash took this time to apply some sunscreen on, so he won't burn from the hot rays of the sun. Pikachu starts to relax by the side of the pond while waiting for Max to return. May is still pondering about what Max said. Even though she knew Max was probably just teasing her, she hoped what he said was true.

May looks over at Ash, still placing sunscreen on. She continues staring at him, now noticing how cute he looked. Her face starts to turn red again, but Ash noticed that she was staring at him. May quickly turns her back at him, wishing he didn't notice. Unfortunately for May, he did.

"Hey, May!" Her worries quickly heightened as soon as Ash called to her.

May slowly turns to Ash, "Do you need something, Ash?" acting as if nothing happened.

"Your face was all red just now…"

"Oh, it was?" May tries to stay calm, but Ash starts walking towards her. When he got close to May, he grabbed her hand. May shuts her eyes and her heart starts racing. From her over reactive imagination, she was hoping for a confession, or a pull in for a kiss… or both! Instead she felt something placed into her hand. When her eyes open, she sees Ash's sunscreen resting in her palm.

"Put some on, it'll prevent your skin from getting any redder!"

He turned and walked towards Pikachu to join in its relaxation. May had a dumbstruck expression on her face, and Max witnessed the whole thing.

Holding back his laughter, Max says, "Why don't you take Ash's advice and put some on? It'll help prevent you from looking like a fool!" May responds by spraying his face with sunscreen.

She begins to apply the sunscreen on her exposed skin while. May then had another idea…

"Hey Ash, can you come over here!" Ash did as he was told, and ran back to May. "What's up, May?"

She held out his sunscreen and put on a cute face. "Can you please rub some sunscreen on my back? I can't reach it."

"Sure thing May. I don't mind." He took back his sunscreen, and applied some to May's back. Ash then began to rub it on. May enjoyed this moment.

Ash finished up. "Okay, you're covered." He got up, and walked towards the pond and stood by Pikachu. "C'mon, let's go swimming now!"

Max finished wiping the sunscreen off his face. "Okay Ash!" He ran towards Ash and Pikachu.

"Hey, wait for me!" She too ran towards Ash.

As soon as all of them were at the edge of the pond, all four of them jumped in. The water helped them cool down from the hot day. Max was splashing around, May was swimming gracefully, and Ash was underwater, with Pikachu, searching the pond. Ash and Pikachu swam up to get some air.

"*Gasp*… I checked the pond, there doesn't seem to be any dangerous water Pokémon around here."

"Well that's a relief, now our break can be even more relaxing!" May splashed Ash and Pikachu as she finished her sentence.

Ash wiped his face off, "How is this relaxing?"

May continues to splash Ash, "I don't know, but it's fun!"

Ash retaliated with a bigger splash. Both of them exchanged splashes as Pikachu swam away from them to avoid being splashed.

"Hey, if you two are done playing with each other, how 'bout we play a game?" Both look at Max, with May having a hue of pink on her cheeks.

"Cool, I'd love to play a game! What's it called?" Ash seemed excited.

"It's just your average water game named after a Venetian explorer." He made a smug gesture, thinking that it was an obvious answer.

"Uh, is this supposed to be a riddle?" Ash was confused.

"Max, speak less nerdy!" May was irritated at how Max always showed off his intelligence.

Max face palmed. "It's Marco Polo obviously."

Ash's face went from excitement to boredom. "That game? I thought it would've involved Pokémon…"

May showed a hint of disappointment. (All he thinks about is Pokémon, why can't he just have fun with us?) "C'mon Ash, let's play some Marco Polo!" She tugged at his arm, dragging him towards Max.

"Okay, okay May! I'll play!"

As soon as they got to Max, he already decided who should be Marco. "Ash, you'll be Marco!"

"Eh? Why me?"

"… Because you are only one here who didn't want to play." Max couldn't think of a better reason.

"I think that's reasonable." At least May agreed.

Ash shrugged and just surrendered to their wishes, again. "Ugh… fine, I'm Marco." He closes his eyes. "Okay, so all of you get a 10 seconds to get as far away from me." He begins to count down…

May and Max, even Pikachu, all swim at a fair distance away from Ash.

"… 3, 2, 1! MARCO!?" With his eyes still closed, he swam to seek his friends.

Max and May scream out, "POLO!" while Pikachu cried out, "Chu chu!"

This continued for a while, and after a while, Ash was getting closer to May.

May giggled as Ash was getting closer to her… in fact, that's the main reason why Ash is finding her so quickly. She keeps giggling.

Ash began to reach for her. "Marco?" He stuck his arms out, hoping to finally catch her.

May, knowing that she'd be caught, turned around to face Ash. "POLO!"

Ash, thinking that she'd move out of the way to tease him, dashed towards her with his hand out front. "I GOT YOU… eh?" He felt something very soft.

May's face was very red now. "Um… Ash?"

Ash opened his eyes, "May, are you holding Pika-"and saw that his hand was on May's developing chest, "chu? …. Sorry about that, May." Ash removes his hand from her chest, and is red with embarrassment, knowing from Brock to never touch a girl there… without permission.

"Whoa Ash, and I didn't think you had it in you." Max swims into the scene. "And to think that you assaulted my defenseless big sister…"

Ash is confused at Max's statement. "Assaulted? What do you mean? I didn't hurt her, I just touched her chest!"

Max adjusts his glasses. "Go ahead, feign ignorance; you know what you did… hehehe."

"What did I do!? I just played the game!"

Pikachu decided to stay out of this again, knowing nothing of the situation going on. But while Ash and Max were making a scene, May just stood there: her hands on her chest, her heart racing, and her cheeks warm and pink.

(He touched me, here! Did he do it on purpose? Was it my fault? Is Ash interested in me?)

May continued to be in a trance, until Ash snapped her back into reality.

"Yo, May!"

"Huh, what?"

"Do you want to play again?"

She shakes her head to regain her focus. "Yeah sure, let's play again!"

"Good to hear, because you're Marco!" Ash splashes May, and swims away. "Start counting!"

"Hey!" She is soaked… again! "Oh, I'll catch you this time, Ash Ketchum!" She gives chase, and swam after Ash.

Max calls out to May, "May! You're suppose to keep your eyes closed, and go after anyone who says, 'Polo', not just Ash!"

May blushes again. "I-I know that, I was just swimming to a better spot, is all!"

"Sure you were…"

"Oh shut up…" She closes her eyes. "10, 9, 8, 7…"

Ash, Max, and Pikachu once more, all swim at a fair distance away from May.

"2, 1… MARCO!"

"POLO!"

The game plays out as normal like the last one, except May is nowhere near the boys and Pikachu. "Aw c'mon! Where are you guys?" May was far out in the pond.

Max screams out to May. "Well we're not out there, and you're suppose to scream out, 'Marco!'"

"Shut up, I know how to play!" She begins to swim towards where she heard Max.

Max begins to swim away from his previous spot, but Ash and Pikachu decided to get closer to her. "Let's get closer to May, Pikachu, or else this game will never end…" Pikachu nodded in agreement, getting tired of the game.

"Marco!"

"Polo!" "Chu chu!"

They continued to get closer to each other, but a circular shadow was getting closer to May from behind.

"Marco?!" May's voice sounded cheery, knowing that Ash was getting closer."

"Polo!" "Chu chu!"

"Marc-AH!" May felt something smooth grab her ankle. She opens her eyes, and she sees a tentacruel creep up from the water, clearly angry at her. "Oh my… AHHHH! SAVE ME!" She developed a phobia of tentacool and tentacruel from when she was young.

"Whoa, where'd that Pokémon come from!?" Ash was startled at the sudden appearance of the tentacruel. "I thought we checked everywhere, didn't we Pikachu?"

Max, seeing all of this, quickly got out of the water and rushed towards Ash's Pokéball belt. "Ash, May probably entered its territory when we were playing Marco Polo! It was probably too deep for you to spot it!" Once he finally got to his belt, he released Corphish.

Corphish looked around, confused. "…?"

"Don't look at me, help my sister!" He pointed towards the direction of the emergency, and Corphish spotted Ash and the danger he's facing. Corphish dashed towards its trainer. "CORPHISH!"

"Huh? Corphish, perfect! Just the Pokémon I need at the moment!"

"Pika?" Pikachu gestured towards himself.

"Not right now, Pikachu. You'd shock May, and me, since that tentacruel's got her and I'm in the water… next time, okay?" Pikachu nodded in agreement, and swam to shore as Corphish swam to Ash's side.

"All right Corphish, use-" Tentacruel went underwater, taking May with it. "Oh c'mon!" Ash and Corphish gave chase.

May was panicking even more, causing her to lose air quickly. Ash and Corphish caught up to the tentcruel, and their main objective was to save May. Since Ash couldn't command an attack for Corphish, he just gestured that his pokémon attack the tentacle holding onto May. It did as it was shown, and Corphish attacked the tentacle, and it loosened its grip on May.

Ash grabbed May, who was passed out. Ash called back Corphish to help bring both of them back to the surface. It swam towards the two kids, and quickly brought them to the surface.

"Pwah! Corphish, bring us to the edge!" Ash held onto the unconscious May. As they got to the edge, Max was already there to assist them. Ash handed May over to Max, who dragged her onto land. But the tentacruel was right behind them.

"Pikachu, use thunderbolt!" Pikachu charged up its attack. "…WAIT A MINUTE, I'M STILL IN THE WATER! PIKACHU, DON'T ATTA-!" Pikachu launched its thunderbolt towards the tentacruel, shocking both it and Ash.

After Pikachu finished, the tentacruel was K.O'ed! "Pi Pikachu!"

"Good… job… Pikachu!" Ash was a bit dazed from the shock, but was able to give a thumbs up. But he quickly recovered, and rushed to the unconscious May.

Max was nudging his sister, trying to get her to wake up. "C'mon May, wake up!"

"Is she still not awake!?"

"Yeah…" He started to sniffle, worrying over his big sister. "PLEASE ASH, DO CPR ON HER!"

"EH!? WHY DON'T YOU DO IT!?" He was blushing a bit from Max's demand.

"I CAN'T, I DON'T KNOW HOW!"

"BUT I THOUGHT YOU KNOW EVERYTHING!"

"DO YOU KNOW HOW?!"

"Y-Yeah, but I never did it. You just have to blow into her mouth anyway…"

"DO IT THEN! SAVE MY SISTER!"

"WHY CAN'T IT BE YOU!? YOU'RE BROTHER AND SISTER!"

"MY MOUTH ISN'T BIG ENOUGH."

"Funny how you say that, considering that you had a big mouth all day."

"HEY, THIS ISN'T JOKE TIME: THIS IS SAVING MY SISTER TIME!"

During that commotion, May actually woke up. Pikachu and Corphish both cheered when she did. "Hmmm… what's going on?" She looks over, hearing Ash and Max's argument. "What are those two bickering about now?

"Okay Max, I'll do it: I'll give May CPR…"

May's eyes went wide.

Ash turned and started to go towards May. She quickly shuts her eyes, and pretends to be unconscious. Pikachu and Corphish became very confused at her actions.

Ash kneeled down, and looked at May. He takes a deep breath. "This is just to save a life…" He holds May's head, and starts to slowly bring his head towards May's. Max, and the two Pokémon watched intently, and May puckered her lips a bit as she felt Ash get closer.

As he almost made contact, he chickened out. He quickly grabbed Max, and brought his mouth to May's. "Now Max, just blow into her mouth!"

Max panicked as he was performing mouth to mouth to his sister. May's eyes went wide when she heard that Max was "kissing" her. Both of them struggled to get away from each other.

Max was wiping his lips, and May did the same.

"EW! EYUCK! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU MADE ME DO THAT!, ASH!"

"THAT WAS THE WORST THING THAT'S EVER HAPPENED TO ME!"

Ash was just overjoyed that everyone was all right. "Hey Max, you just saved you're sister's life! For your first time, you performed CPR well!"

**Later that day…**

Ash and everyone were traveling once more, but May was giving Ash the cold shoulder.

"May? … May? … Hello, anyone there?" Ash was trying to talk to May. "C'mon May, why are you mad at me?"

May just ignored him.

Max chimed in, "C'mon May, are you really going to ignore someone who saved your life?"

May kept her lips shut. She was mad at Ash for not "kissing" her.

"May, talked to me! … At least tell me why you're mad at me."

May thought of an idea right then and there. She turns to Ash, "Okay Ash, I'll tell you." She gestures him to come closer, and Ash does just that. "Well, what is it? …!?"

Once Ash got close, May gave him a kiss on the lips. Ash was paralyzed… and probably couldn't move. Max and Pikachu's jaws dropped when they saw this.

Once May was satisfied, she backed away from Ash. "Thank you for the nice day, and for rescuing me, Ash…" She blushed, turned around, and skipped merrily ahead. Ash just stood there, still under paralysis. Max walked up next to him, and pulled out a paralysis heal.

But Ash moved again, and looked at Max. "Does this mean she isn't mad at me anymore?"

Max just face palmed, and threw the antidote at Ash.

**The End…**

**Damn, I went all out for this. I hope this makes up for the long absence. Again, school and college stuff got in the way, and my own personal interests. I'm sorry. So what should I do next? Another Pokémon one, or another franchise: Mega Man Legends, Sonic, Zelda, or anything else? But if it's Pokémon still, which shipping: Poké, Advance, Pearl, or Negai?**


End file.
